Qualifying for the anniversary tournament with Donna Vekic

The die is cast! The 35th edition of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz at the Design Centre will see some absolute top players competing in the qualifiers (Easter Sunday, from 11 a.m.). One of the most prominent names is undoubtedly Croatia's Donna Vekic, who is competing in Linz for the eighth time and reached the semi-finals in her last appearance in 2024. She starts her qualifying campaign against Carole Monnet (France). Top seed Katie Volynets (USA) will play against Oceane Dodin from France.

Meanwhile, the two wildcards for the qualifiers have gone to Germany. Jule Niemeier and Anna-Lena Friedsam, who already reached the final of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz eleven years ago, will represent the colours of the neighbouring country together with Tamara Korpatsch. The 32-year-old Friedsam played her first WTA final in Linz in 2015 and was only beaten by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova after a great tournament. She reached the quarter-finals again in 2023. She will face sixth seed Anhelina Kalinina on Sunday. Jule Niemeier surprisingly reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2022 and is now trying to build on her old successes. She faces Tamara Korpatsch in a German duel. 

Sloane Stephens directly in the main draw

Meanwhile, Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open winner, has received the final main draw wildcard. The 33-year-old had initially been scheduled for the qualifiers, but has now been given a ticket to the main draw. The first matches here will take place on Easter Monday. Stephens has recovered from a fatigue fracture in her right foot and wants to push ahead with her comeback in Linz. 

Two Austrian doubles teams at the start
The doubles competition also promises to be a real highlight from an Austrian perspective. Lilli Tagger will play alongside Anastasia Potapova, the 2023 Linz singles winner. Thanks to a wild card, Sinja Kraus and Julia Grabher will be the second red-white-red duo. Incidentally, the last time an Austrian reached the doubles final was in 2020 with Barbara Haas.